Modelling of nitrogen leaching under a complex winter wheat and red clover crop rotation in a drained agricultural field

Abstract The European Water Framework Directive requires conformity of water management structures all over Europe to pursue a good water quality for all water bodies. The highest nitrate concentrations in the water were measured in regions with well-drained soils, ploughed pastures and high nitrogen inputs. The objective of this study was to calculate the nitrate nitrogen leaching out of a subsurface drainage system under organic farming conditions, especially for the seepage period in winter. Water and nitrogen fluxes between soil and vegetation were simulated with the soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer model CoupModel using data from an 8 years lasting monitoring programme on a field in Northern Germany. Modelling was focused on a crop rotation sequence consisting of winter wheat with undersown red clover followed by two years of red clover used as temporary grassland. Measured soil temperature in a depth of 15 cm was reproduced very well (Nash–Sutcliffe-efficiency NSE = 0.95; R 2  = 0.98). Results also indicated that CoupModel accurately simulated drainage discharge and nitrate N loss under winter wheat from 2001 to 2002 with a NSE of 0.73 for the drainage discharge and a NSE of 0.49 for the nitrate N leaching. For the following red clover period the accordance between simulated and measured drainage discharge (NSE = 0.01) and nitrate N loads in the drainage (NSE = 0.31) was much lower. The inaccuracy in the modelling results in November 2002 seems to origin from an inadequate description of soil covering and thus the interception of the hibernating red clover. Secondly, the high nitrogen leaching in February 2004 could not be matched due to poorly adapted nitrogen dynamics in the model. The reason could be that common single parameter values in the mineralization part of the model were not suitable to reproduce an abrupt, short-term N leaching. In general, the results demonstrate the potential of CoupModel to predict water and nitrate N fluxes under complex crop rotations including bicropping and legumes.

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